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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Hello! Time for WOYWW already - pop over to meet Julia and the gang at Stamping Ground if you don't know what WOYWW is...

My desk is a bit of a mess this week, I haven't been very tidy at all...

You can see a stack of cards I am working on, using some Pink Petticoat imagery (there is a finished one too), my trusty ATG is there as well and not in his usual home, even my watch and engagement rings are on the desk.....

Today I am giving you a twofer, as I really wanted to show off my new Promarker Storage..

Promarker Storage

I found these great towers in a local discount store and realised that they would store my Promarkers perfectly. I even have the colour chart below them :) Each drawer holds a colour family - so 'Greens', 'Blues' etc, It has made my life much easier.

Finally here is one of the finished cards from my ultra messy desk, surprised I could find it...

Hey Big Fella!

Happy WOYWW to you all, Hubby has a day off, so I am off to lunch with him and a friend, before nosying at your desks.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Today's main photo is of the card she made for me...she has modified the stamp so it looks like me - ha ha love it.

We also did 'punch amnesty' which involved us punching lots of things for the other person that they don't have. I sent her some too, but USPS has it's own timeline...

So I got...

Butterflies - you know how much I love these.

2inch Hearts - which compliment my heart punches beautifully.

Cameos - I love this die, I might have to invest when I have a job...

Finally I got these random Sealife die cuts...how strange are they, I think I might have to bash out a few cards using these and my fish embossing folder. I also love the fact that they have Crabs in...JT and I have a Crab thing (way too long to explain, so I'll just say CrabbyMoose!)

I miss my craft buddy soooo much, gonna have to get that Skype playdate setup soon.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Hello, I hope you all had a good weekend.Hubby and I went out with our new friends on Saturday and had lots of fun.I have been looking at lots of cards with hexagons lately and I really love the idea of using hexagons. I have a punch, a stamp and an embossing folder (thank you JT), I wish I had a smaller hexagon die or punch, but for now what I have will have to do. I spent Sunday having a play with all my hexagon kit and here's what I came up with.The main photo is my entry for the CAS-ual Friday challenge for this week - CFC106: Create a Clean And Simple card with an element that goes off the edge of the cardfront. I like the simplicity of this card and the unusual sentiment. I initially wanted the hexagon to hang off the edge, but couldn't get it to work and thought the hearts would be a nice touch instead.I made 5 other hexagon themed cards - 1 - A happy birthday card using greens - I like the contrasting patterns and spotty embossing folder. The peel-off is one of my faves and sadly I have almost run out and I don't think I can get them here in NYC.

1 - Happy Birthday

2 - This card uses my hexagon embossing folder. I embossed a piece of pink cardstock and then chopped it up for a bit of an unusual effect. Being thrifty I used the outside of the punched hexagon from card 1 and added a pink tag, a butterfly and some teeny tiny alphas to make the sentiment. This one is a bit strange, but I like it :)

2 - Hello

3 - I bought a set of stamps that came with a honeycomb/hexagon mini stamp and I have wanted to use it, but been at a loss as to how it could work. Here I stamped it 4 times in 2 colours and then relief cut around it to make a border. Once I had the border I was a bit like ?! and then I thought if I added flowers it would look like a trellis...a bit far maybe?! Anyway I think it's cute, maybe a bit busy?

3 - You are the best ever

4 - I had the card with the purple strip stitched on in my scrap box and thought it would work nicely with some pink / purple hexagons. I love corrugated card and I think the hexagon here looks lovely.

4 - Thank You

5 - The final card is a bit of fun, I am sad that the Rock Star stamp didn't come out too well, but I like the glittery hexagon against the Pink Petticoat quatrefoil background and the bright blue stars tie it all in nicely.

5 - Party like a Rock Star

I enjoyed playing with hexagons, now I just need to get my hands on that smaller hexagon punch as there are lots of ideas I want to try out, but my punch is too big...Cx

Friday, June 21, 2013

Good news here in NYC, I have had the final part of my work documentation approved, just need to wait for the official notice and then back to work I go. So I'll be enjoying the time I have left!

I thought we'd have a departure from birthday's and the like, also as I received my new Stamping Bella stamp earlier in the week, I have been itching to use it :)

The main photo is a Wedding card for our friends Jenn and Steve - they are getting married in July and unfortunately only Hubby can go - partly finance, but partly because it's too soon to introduce someone new to the Furchildren....a move to a different Country is enough in one year!

I have no idea if they will be theming their Wedding pink, but I felt it suited their blondness :) The heart paper is an old fave by Pink Petticoat and the sentiment is from my new Pebbles banner stamp set.

Here's a detail shot, so you can hopefully see the glitter on the dress.

Dress detail

I am head over heels in love with this stamp (even though the flowers are a *bleep* to colour in) and I am going to make a couple of variations to sell on Etsy.

The next card is an Anniversary card for our friends Lora and Dan - they are such a fun couple and when JT gifted me this stamp I thought of them instantly.

Happy Anniversary

I did a bit of retouching (hoping that Kenny K won't mind) but I wanted to make it less wedding. Here is the original stamp.

I removed the veil behind the groom, the bouquet and the arm that was holding it. I think it works better this way for an Anniversary. Please note how thrifty I have been, as I used a remnant of the heart paper from the Wedding card.

The final big news for this week is related to this post..basically this post means I have equalled the number of posts from 2012 - which is pretty superb as it's only June!! I have been trying really hard to keep the posts regular and I was succeeding until the big move, now I am back on track - lets see if I can hit the 100 mark this year, then I can take my foot off of the gas next year (maybe)

Have a great Friday and a fun weekend...Hubby and I are off to eat BBQ with our new friends this weekend.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

I really wanted to enter this week's CAS-ual Friday challenge, but was a bit lost for ideas.

Then I saw their challenge from a couple of weeks ago - banners and flags I decided that I liked that better :) and so made banner/flag card instead!

I had this idea that I could make a 'Hello Tree'...I have no idea why this thought came to me, but it did and so here we are!

The main photo is my finished card ROCKS!! Even if I do say so myself :) I love it, it's so strange!

The embossing folder is a random Sizzix one that I bought in their bumper Christmas sale, the inks are all by Studio G and are always a dollar from Michael's and they come in such pretty colours. I used my fave paper twine for the stalks / branches?! The flowerpot was made using a punch that I didn't know I had until I unpacked...I punched 2 pots and chopped them up to make the one that you see on the card.

Easy peasy, fun to make and now I have to think about where it should go - maybe I should gift it to JT as part of Card Exchange?

Happy Thursday everyone, I am now off to the barber to get a much needed haircut.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Whoo Hoo! I managed to get my crap together so I can join in WOYWW this week. If you don't know what I am babbling about then go over to Julia's blog and check out the weekly global nose.

So I actually took these photo's on Tuesday, as I am 5hrs behind the UK.

My desk is a bit untidy at the moment, due to being in a new space (hmm who am I kidding) and I haven't purchased all the parts of the desk yet. Hubby has been amazing and has gifted me a reasonable 'craft room' budget, but I think it's time for a pause so I can buy wisely.

Anyway what is actually on my desk? Well, now that my new desk is so massive my laptop lives on it - whoop whoop. In the background to the left is my new thrift store lamp, I have no idea why the lint roller is there?! Its in front of my mini chalkboard - as I don't have a noticeboard yet, also at the back of my desk is the usual stuff, a rack of papers, etc, a rotating pen, brush, tool holder, ribbon, twine, ink and a few promarkers. Trusty glasses are there too.

You can just make out a card I made for a friend - here is a proper photo of it.

Handsome Boy

I love this card, I specifically bought the showgirl stamp a few months ago to make a birthday card for my friend Nick - he loves the 40's! It's obviously a Kenny K, the papers are Pink Petticoat and I merged them together, to save ink, so I only had to print one sheet. The handsome boy stamp is a new TJMaxx find. Look closely and you'll see the bling I used for buttons on her shorts.

Finally - the pink thing to the right of my desk is this beautiful Stamping Bella stamp - it arrived on Tues, ready for me to make a whole batch of wedding cards.

Brett and Brenda get married

Happy WOYWW - I'll be nosing at lots of desks today, as I am waiting in for a delivery :)

Cx

p.s American WOYWWer's - where can I get promarkers - I am not a Copic girl :(

Monday, June 17, 2013

Hubby and I had a good weekend, we socialised with our new friends on Friday evening and stupidly carried Hubby's new desk 60 blocks across Manhattan on Saturday.

So yesterday, whilst Hubby was setting up his new desk, I stationed myself at the craft desk and made lots of fun things.

There is a bit of variety here, but they were all made for the same reason. I have a list of people I want to write to, so I wanted to make cards that suited them.

Also JT and I gifted each other a couple of stamps over the weekend, so I was excited to use some of them - you can see what she has been up to with the ones that she bought us on her blog

The main photo is such a fun card - it's a Pink Petticoat digital stamp and digital papers from the Big Fella set, I added the stripy tape for a bit of fun. Love that the Whale has got a bow tie - which I glittered. This is for a friend recovering from an op.

I got this cool Addytude Cupcake Diva stamp and thought I would remove the text (it says cupcake diva), so I can decide if I want a sentiment or not. With this version that I have made, I don't think a sentiment is necessary. This is for a friend of mine back in London who is a serious cake junkie!!

Cupcakes Galore!

I like the fussy stamp paired with the fussy and free cupcake paper. I also finally got to use one of those star patterned Candi - I can never find a use for them, they are a bit OTT.

I too used the Kenny K Happy Hour stamp - this is such a fun stamp to colour.

Cheers!

I liked the idea of putting her on a spotty paper and thought giant spots would be more fun, I relief cut her for maximum stand-out. I stamped the cheers using one of my Studio G individual alphabet stamp sets - love these sets, as the letters are so easy to use. I decided not to bling her up, I thought on this occasion less is more :) I also think she looks a bit like the friend I am sending the card to...

The final card I made using another Pink Petticoat stamp - the sentiment is part of the stamp.

Old friends

I just happened to have the flowery paper (another freebie) and the flowery ribbon out on my desk and I thought they co-ordinated really well. I think my 'old' friend will like this.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

..Today is Father's Day both here in the US and back at home in the UK.

Obviously I won't be seeing my Daddy today, but it hasn't stopped me from making him the beauty that is today's main photo...

I wanted to keep it simple and decided that I would go down a typography route. I was rooting around in Michaels and came across these wonderful adhesive letters by Thickers - they are called Eric. I thought the patterns on the letters would bring the card to life. The red banners on my card were made using self-adhesive border strips by DCWV and I used my square punch to get the flag shape. Using Candi's was always a must, especially these grey stripey ones, very masculine.

I am not sure I can top last year's post about my Dad, so I'm not even going to try..

I miss my parents every single day, but the fact is, they are the reason that Hubby and I are here in NYC. They encouraged us, helped us, supported us and gave us the strength to get through the tough times..

My Dad isn't really one for the phone or Skype, but he loves email and when I get an email from him, it makes my day, as he always tells me stuff that no-one else would. It's these little things that my Dad knows about me that makes him so special.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

I saw the Retro Sketches sketch for this week and thought it was great -

Retro Sketches #67

I loved it so much, I made a few things, but the main photo is my entry.

Loving the new robot punch and I am going to give this card to a friend for his birthday next month. All the papers and twine are by American Crafts. with a red Candi and a coloured peel-off.

The card below is going to my Parents neighbour, as she sent us a nice card and I thought I'd write with some news. Now I have my kit back, I get to use the Hero Arts bicycle set. All the papers and the ribbon are scraps (go me) and the star is from Poundland. The stamp is part of the bicycle set.

Bicycle Hello

The final card is a bit in your face with the colours, but I like it - especially as I got to use another one of the Range flowers.

Flower Birthday

I think this sketch is going to get used over and over again - thank you RS for this gift.

Happy Thurs everyone, it's date night here in NYC - off to the cinema we go.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Hubby asked me to make a thank you card for his parents and I decided to try out my new stamp set that I bought a few weeks ago. They are really cool and made by Pebbles.

The main photo is my fave, JT will like this one, as she loves the lighthouse paper, it was a freebie, it's by Kirsty Wiseman and this piece is the 2nd to last piece of it :( The dark blue card is by Co-redinations.

Using the stamp to make the thank you card inspired me to make a few more, all with the same theme -
- use the label dies
- use the stamps
- use something decorative for the smaller die-cut or within it

Here are the other 3 cards I made

1 - love this digital stamp by Pink Petticoat (I don't have a printer yet, but I had a sheet of these). I coloured it using colours that fit with the backing paper, which is by My Mind's Eye and the ink is Chocolate by Martha Stewart.

1 - Hello Friend

2 - this version uses some of my paper flower stash, a self-adhesive pearl and a piece of pretty Hippie Chick paper by DCWV. The ink for the greeting is by Martha Stewart.

2 - Just a note

3 - the final card uses a flower (is it a flower?) from my last visit to the Range - x6 in a strip for £1 bargain!! The spotty backing paper is ancient and I believe my Ma bought it for me years ago..The red ink didn't stamp as well as I would have liked, but it works well enough. I like that the embellishment / flower has spots in, so matches the paper nicely.

3 - Hello

All in all, this was a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon in NYC and now I have x3 cards ready to go to new homes.

Hubby has the day off today, so we are going to ride the ferry down the East River, as we haven't done that yet.

Monday, June 10, 2013

I have been most overjoyed by their arrival, as it means I now have my entire craft kit at my disposal. It's not quite organised yet, as I don't have all the storage/shelving required, but rooting through the boxes to find certain things is fun.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon making cards (Father's Day card will be showon Sunday) and as I was working I realised that there had been certain things I really really missed and hadn't actually realised! What are these key things I hear you ask? Well, I missed my promarkers, punches - esp the circular ones and the corner rounder, Candi's, washi tape, various size card blanks, glitter glue, peel-offs, inks and different size acrylic blocks. Two things made me squeal with delight (yep I am that childish) - my beloved ATG and my large paper trimmer. Such joy to have my old friends back again.

The title of my post relates to all the cards I made yesterday, which inadvertently mixed my new NYC purchases with my existing kit.

The main photo is one of my favourite makes of the day and it uses a new stamp from Michaels (bought with my free gift card, that I got for signing up to the NY Times delivery scheme), new backing papers also from Michaels, new chevron ribbon from Marshalls by American Crafts. The ink was an old Martha Stewart one, I punched the stamp out with my scalloped circle punch, the greeting is a peel-off and I glittered it up a bit using a stickles glitter glue. I have a thing for chevrons, so was very happy to acquire all of these new chevon stuff. I have also had Eiffel Tower stamp envy for a while, as JT has a cool one (it was a gift so I can't steal it). Below is a photo of the stamp in a different blue ink, I had to try several before I found a perfect match and I thought it would be worth showing you the lighter version, so you can see why I am so happy with the final card.

Blue ink too pale for the backing paper

The next card uses a new stamp, also from Michaels, everything else came out of my existing kit - papers, promarkers, glitter glue and the greeting stamp. The white paper that the boat is stamped on, was an offcut I found in my white paper box and it already had the star punched in the corner and I thought it was a good fit for the stamp. See I do use offcuts :)

Happy Birthday Boat

The next card was a bit of an experiment, as I bought a very long stamp from my new fave shop in NYC - The Ink Pad. I haven't been able to use it since I bought it, as I didn't have any tall card blanks with me. I also haven't used all of the stamp as it is very long! I used a pink ink and a brown ink to create the vignette effect, which I am pleased with. It's something JT does well and it scares me a bit..The flower is new and does clash a bit, but I think that it's a nice touch. The washi tapes are all from my existing kit. I can't decide if I need to add a greeting or not...

Long dress stamp

I made a few more things, but this is turning into one of those epic posts, so I'll post them later in the week - it's nice to be able to say that :)

Cx

p.s please note the improvement in my photo taking, I've figured out the light in the apartment and I bought the cool NYC paper as a bit of fun.

Friday, June 7, 2013

She kindly hooked me up with her parents, who are AWESOME. It was very nice of JT to hand over her parents to me, but I promise to take good care of them.

They invited Hubby and I to spend the Memorial Day weekend with them (last May bank holiday), but Hubby had to work, so I went on my own.

They were fantastic hosts and showed me their part of the world, fed me - lots, drank with me - lots, re-taught me how to play Backgammon (I am the World Champion now...), took me to the casino - I won money, took me shopping and generally were just awesome.

The main photo today is of Sally and Mike in New Hope next to the old clock.

To say thank you, I made them a set of notecards, featuring their home.

I took the photo below and treated it to create some cool pics, that I then stuck onto some cards.

Original House Photo

Here are the finished cards - which have now arrived with the Nixons and they are very happy with them, so that makes me happy too.

Finished Cards

I am pleased with the end result and the lack of printer meant I got to investigate how to print out photos at my local drugstore - x6 prints for $1.10...not bad at all and super easy.

Have a great weekend, we will be unpacking our boxes and I will be making a Father's Day card, so I can post it on Monday.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Well Hubby, the Fur children and I have now been in NYC for a month. We are getting settled nicely and I am starting to get my craft mojo back...it went missing for a while with all the house stuff to do :(

I have been a teeny bit naughty and have acquired bits of new kit here and there, whilst I am waiting for all our stuff to arrive from the UK. So I thought I'd show you what I have been up to - apologies for the quality of the photos, I am not used to the light in the apartment yet!

The main picture today is of a birthday card I made for my friend Carrie's husband Tom. The robot punch is a new purchase and had 50% off, so I felt it was rude to not buy it!! It's by EK success, the papers are from a scrap of the American Crafts set that I love and use often.

I also purchased some cool moustache stickers. I have made a few fun cards with them, but I think this one for Carrie is my fave. Carrie and I have a moustache thing, too long to explain here, but we are always buying each other moustache things!! I like the simplicity of this card.

Moustache!

My SIL had her baby on the 17th of May - a niece Florence Mae, she is gorgeous, sad we aren't there to give her a cuddle, but I did manage to make this card for her. Yep, they are the usual butterflies from JT's punch, I punched a bejillion of them before I left!!

I bought this very cute bunny stamp in the sale (stamps are rather expensive here in the US) and thought it would be fun if I stamped lots of them in a row. I like this, JT suggested I could use the bunny for new baby cards..this particular card is going to JT's folks to say Thanks for a wonderful Memorial Day weekend - more about that in another post :)

Lots of Bunnies!

So that's all from me for now, just wanted you to see that I am still alive and crafting!

Hello!

Welcome to the Ham'n'Mule Designs blog.

I set-up this blog to share tips, my projects, some chit chat and my family adventures!

Now for the fine print..

This is a personal blog and the majority of the things you see here are my own creations. I sometimes CASE other people's work and I am happy for you to the same with mine. But I would appreciate it if you'd give me a shout out and a link back to this blog if you do, just as I do with when I CASE. Please do not present anything you find here as your own or submit my work for competitions or for publication.